Prayer: God of all blessings, help me to accept compromise and find joy in sharing your gifts with all of your children. Amen.
Reading: Genesis 27 (Click to read text) Stop and GROW: After reading the text, discuss/ponder the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Book of Faith questions, which are part of Camp Mount Luther's GROW Time with campers. QUESTION 1: What scares, confuses, challenges, or doesn’t make sense to me in this text? QUESTION 2: What delights me in this text or is my favorite part of the story? QUESTION 3: What stories or memories does this text stir in me? QUESTION 4: What is God up to in this text? Reflection: When Issac blesses his son, he sums up every parent’s desire for his or her child, as well as what we all wish for ourselves: that we will have the best of everything and more than enough; that we will be powerful, worthy of adoration, even amongst our families, and that our allies will be rewarded while our enemies are punished. The problem with this universal desire is encountered later in the chapter, when Esau asks his father to bless him also. There just isn’t enough good fortune to go around. When we get what we want, that also means that someone else doesn’t. Every time we win any sort of competition, someone else loses. Here's a camp example for you: when campers do a polar bear swim, the counselors need to give up a little sleep. When I was a counselor, I remember trying to talk my campers out of a polar bear swim. That last hour of sleep is important to me! Life, however, has got to be about compromise. Sometimes it works out for you, and sometimes it doesn’t. However, God is always in the outcome. Someone is blessed today. It may be hard to accept your loss, but try to celebrate with the winner, so that next time, he or she will celebrate with you. --Erin Hayes
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Authors
Anyone is welcome to contribute! If you'd like to write for us, please e-mail [email protected] Email
Get our daily devotions delivered to your e-mail box each day by signing up below:
Archives
May 2022
Subscribe |